The present invention relates to a toner cartridge structure and a drum cartridge structure for receiving the toner cartridge therein.
A prior art electrography recording apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the prior art apparatus, FIG. 12 is a partial cutaway view as seen along the lines 12 of FIG. 11, and FIG. 13 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view. A toner cartridge subassembly 31 in the figures includes an outer pipe 32, an inner pipe 37, and caps 41. The outer pipe 32 takes the form of a pipe, and has openings 33 at longitudinal opposite ends thereof and a plurality of cutouts 34 formed in each opening. The outer pipe 32 is formed with a plurality of openings 35 therein aligned longitudinally thereof. The opening 35 is for discharging toner therethrough. The outer pipe 32 has a rib 36 that extends circumferentially thereof to define the openings 35. The inner pipe 37 in the form of a hollow cylinder slidably fits into the outer pipe 32. The inner pipe 37 has openings 38 at longitudinal opposite ends, concentric with respect to the outer pipe 32. The inner pipe 37 is formed with a plurality of openings 39 therein through which toner in the inner pipe 37 is discharged when the openings 39 are aligned with the openings 35. The inner pipe 37 has two ribs 40 extending circumferentially thereof, which ribs 40 are positioned such that ribs 40 define three openings 39, side by side, with one in the middle having an opening area twice as large as the other two adjacent ones. The caps 41 and 41a fit to the corresponding openings 38, respectively. The cap 41a is formed with a toner filling hole 42 therein. The cap 41 is formed with a cross-shaped groove 56 as shown in FIG. 14B, which is not shown in FIG. 13 for simplicity of explanation. A cap 43 fits into the toner-filling hole 42. The gap between the outer pipe 32 and the inner pipe 37 is sealed by means of a sealing material, not shown. Likewise, the gap between the caps 41 and the longitudinal ends of the inner pipe 37 are sealed.
The operation of the aforementioned cartridge subassembly 31 will be described. The inner pipe 37 is slidably rotated relative to the outer pipe 32 till the openings 39 are aligned with the openings 35, thereby discharging toner in the inner pipe 37 through the aligned openings. Slidably rotating the inner pipe 37 in the reverse direction relative to the outer pipe 32 causes the openings 35 and 39 to move out of alignment with each other, thereby closing the opening 39 in the inner pipe 37 by means of the outer pipe 32.
The mounting procedure of a toner cartridge 54 including the toner subassembly 31 will now be described.
FIGS. 14A and 14B are perspective views of an essential part of the prior art apparatus, FIG. 14A showing only a left one of the two structures provided at the left and right ends of a drum cartridge 50 that receives the toner cartridge 54, and FIG. 14B showing only a left one of the two structures provided at the left and right ends of the toner cartridge 54.
A cartridge-receiving space 64 of the drum cartridge 50 includes a rotor 51 that is supported by the chassis 66 means of a hinged support and is rotatable relative to the chassis 66. The rotor 51 has a lever 52 and a cross-shaped projection 53 which are formed in one piece with the rotor 51. A projection 53 includes a long main projection 53a and a short sub projection 53b, which is perpendicular to the main projection 53a and formed in the middle of the main projection 53a. The main projection 53a has a first side 53c on its right hand side and a second side 53d on its left side hand. The sub projection 53b has a first sub projection 53e on its right hand side and a second sub projection 53f on its left hand side. The cap 41 is provided with a cross-shaped groove 56 and loosely fits over the projection 53 of the rotor 51. The groove 56 includes a main groove 56a and a sub groove 56b which is perpendicular to the main groove 56a at the middle of the main groove 56a. The main groove 56a has a first side wall 56c on its left hand side and a second side wall 56d on its right hand side. The sub groove 56b has a first sub groove 56e on its left hand side and a second sub groove 56f on its right hand side.
The operation of the prior art apparatus will now be described with reference to FIGS. 15A-15H which illustrate the mounting and dismounting operations of the prior art cartridge 54. The rotor 51 is depicted in solid line, and the cap 41 is depicted in dot-dash line. First, the lever 52 is operated to rotate the rotor 51 in the direction illustrated by arrow C as shown in FIG. 15A till the lever 52 abuts a stopper, not shown, and is then slightly operated in the reverse direction. The rotor 51 now takes up a cartridge-setting position where the cartridge 54 is to be placed in the cartridge-receiving space 64 of the drum cartridge (FIG. 15B). While being held parallel to the cartridge-receiving space 64, the cartridge 54 is lowered so that the projection 53 advances into the groove 56 of the cap 41 (FIG. 15B). The projection 53 is at an angle preventing the cartridge 54 from completely being inserted into the cartridge-receiving space 64 (FIG. 15B). Then, the cartridge 54 is further inserted into the cartridge-receiving space 64 while operating the lever 52 relative to the cap 41 slightly in the direction illustrated by arrow C as shown in FIG. 15C. The projection 53 is now in parallel to the groove 56 so that the cartridge 54 enters completely into the cartridge-receiving space 64. At this stage, the bottom of the outer pipe 32 is in close contact with a sealing member 60 of the cartridge-receiving space 64 and is exerted an upward force by the sealing member 60. Then, the lever 52 is operated to rotate the rotor 51 in the direction opposite to arrow C (FIG. 15D). While being rotated, the first sub projection 53e engages the sub groove 56e of the groove 56 which is pushed upwardly by the sealing member 60. The upward force is still acting on the cap 41 while the sub projection 53e engages the sealing member 60. When the rotor 51 again reaches the cartridge-setting position (FIG. 15D), the projection 53 becomes oblique to the groove 56 so that the first side 53c abuts the side wall 56c. This completes the mounting of the cartridge 54 into the cartridge-receiving space 64.
Then, the rotor 51 is rotated in the direction illustrated by arrow B till the the rotor 51 abuts a stopper, not shown, as shown in FIG. 15E. The rotation of the rotor 51 is transmitted via the projection 53 and groove 56 to the cap 41, so that the cap 41 is also rotated in the direction illustrated by arrow B. The inner pipe 37 slidably rotates in the outer pipe 32. The cartridge 54 tends to rise from the cartridge-receiving space 64 due to angular moment. However, the engagement of the first sub projection 53e with the first sub groove 56e prevents the cartridge 54 from rising. The sealing member 60 secured to the rotor 51, as shown in FIG. 14, rotates with the rotor 51 in the direction illustrated by arrow B, so that the opening 61 formed in the bottom of the cartridge-receiving space 64 is aligned with the openings 35 and 39 of the outer pipe and inner pipe to allow the toner to be dumped into the drum cartridge. This is the "open cartridge" condition.
In order to take out the cartridge 54 from the cartridge-receiving space 64, the lever 52 is operated to rotate the rotor 51 in the direction illustrated by arrow C as shown in FIG. 15F. Initially the rotor 51 alone rotates slightly relative to the cap 41 due to the loose engagement between the projection 53 and the groove 56, and a further rotation of the rotor 51 causes the second projection 53f to engage the second groove 56f. Then, the rotor 51 is still further rotated as shown in FIG. 15G in the direction indicated by arrow C till the rotor 51 abuts a stopper, not shown. In this situation, the cartridge 54 tends to rise from the cartridge-mounting space 64 due to angular moment. However, the engagement of the second sub projection 53f with the second sub groove 56f prevents the cartridge 54 from rising. The sealing member 60 in FIG. 14 rotates together with the rotor 51 in the direction illustrated by arrow C to close the opening 61 in the bottom of the cartridge-mounting space 64. The inner pipe 37 rotates relative to the outer pipe 32 in the direction illustrated by arrow C so that the openings 35 are completely out of alignment with the opening 39. This is the "closed cartridge" condition.
Finally, the lever 52 is rotated slightly in the direction illustrated by arrow B so that the second sub projection 53f moves out of engagement with the second sub groove 56f and the projection 53 is now in parallel to the groove 56 (FIG. 15H). The bottom of the cartridge-mounting space 64 still exerts an upward force on the outer pipe 32 of the cartridge, raising the cartridge 54 upwardly. Thus, the cross-shaped projection 53 moves out of engagement with the cross-shaped groove 56 allowing the cartridge 54 to be taken out of the cartridge-mounting space 64.
The aforementioned prior art cartridge is disadvantageous in that the number of parts is large, sealing means are required at both longitudinal ends, and the assembly operation is rather complex. In addition, when discharging the toner, the user must simultaneously rotate the lever 52 of the rotor 51 at both ends of the drum cartridge using both hands.